Helm Posted March 17, 2023 Map17 - Laser Quest What's this? A simpler, easier, linear map in the middle of the set? I'll take it. It opens with the streets around the exterior of a building, which obviously is housing a laser tag operation, now overrun by demons. You can get the the saw and a computer map (which directly contributed to me maxing this map, so thanks) and then you enter the laser tag building and it's a series of doom rooms, very linear, with some combat concepts in what looks like doomcute laser tag arenas, yes. Nothing very challenging nor anything out of the ordinary in terms of combat, besides the cute layout. All the weapons are given to the player (including BFG) early on in what presumably is the closet with all the laser tag guns. It's an easygoing, simple excursion where most of the BFG is best used at a baron closet that opens up at the end. Nothing hard, you can sleepwalk through this but at the same time nothing wrong with it! As a map on its own it's a bit slight but as part of a single author megawad, I'll take the change of pace and I'll take an easy recording as well. footage 7 Share this post Link to post
Book Lord Posted March 17, 2023 MAP 17 – Laser Quest DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves I have never played a Sonic game, so I overlooked the big homage that was MAP09; I cannot miss this one though, since I had the opportunity to play a few battles in a Laser Quest location during an English study holiday in the UK. It was July 1999, I was 17 years old, and I had never experienced a laser tag session before. I had a great time with a big group of outsiders against the local players; I also remember that I chose “Slaughtaur” as a nickname, another proof of my love for Doom-engine FPS since I was a teenager. Spoiler Fragport city had its own Laser Quest venue, hosted in a dedicated rectangular building just as bare as the others. Exploring the streets outside alerted a single Arachnotron but earned me a Computer Area Map, which spoiled the internal layout and all of the map’s secrets. After chain-sawing or punching some Pinkies and a Pain Elemental, Jody Russell arrived at the reception, a Doomcute jewel with cool details such as a pool table, air hockey, arcade games, toilets, the ‘Bar’, the manager’s office (another Baron), and an armoury with all sorts of weapons and equipment, not very suitable for laser tag games but useful to cleanse this demon-infested place. This was a lovely concept by Stephen Clark, that immediately elicited the fond memories I have recollected above. Spoiler Sadly, the map had not much to offer after that. The battle zone was evocative, but from the combat standpoint it was just a hitscanner hell maze with a few additional Revenants and Arch-Viles. The player must carefully check corners and not expose themselves to the cheap shots of hidden zombies, and they will collect the three keys without much hassle. Only the RK might require a second pass since it was hidden behind a burning barrel. The lights could be adjusted between extreme darkness and excessive light by toggling the switches behind the bar. Maybe some more darkness, less enemies, and a few light effects could have been implemented to make this section more interesting. The keys were used to open the three doors and leave the district, after being ambushed by the obligatory monster closets. I liked the visuals of the Laser Quest dome, but the gameplay was nothing to write home about. A missed opportunity. 7 Share this post Link to post
FistMarine Posted March 17, 2023 (edited) Note: I meant to make this post last Friday but other things got in the way. Also I'm currently writing about maps 31-32 and 16-17 and they will be posted next week alongside maps 11-15! Hi everyone! I hope this time I will catch up with playing and writing. I don't think I've ever played Fragport before but I certainly heard about it since at least a decade ago. This time, I am taking my Purist Glasses off and I am using ZDoom to play Fragport. I don't regret my choice, especially reading the comment earlier about MAP10 being broken in vanilla ports, which is a shame that the wad suffers from ZDoomisms. But at the same time, I had to take a break from vanilla from a while, the previous month's wad exhausted me from enjoying vanilla Doom for a while. I may still be doing separate pistol starts in PrBoom+ if I feel like. Maybe at a later time this month, if I happen to finish the megawad earlier and there is still time. Anyway, for now, I am using ZDoom 2.8.1 (Default Compatibility) with mouselook, jumping and crouching enabled. UV 100% Continuous with Saves. I try to not abuse jumping and crouching but I will still be using mouselook, since this is how I like playing ZDoom family ports. ;) First impressions of the megawad so far are positive. It is after all being made by a legendary ZDoom mapper/modder known as Stephen Clark, aka The Ultimate Doomer, who is best known for his GZDoom HeXeN mod, Serpent: Resurrection (yes, the mod is amazing and I've beaten it once as Fighter and currently on the second playthrough as Cleric, I highly recommend checking this masterpiece out). Stephen has also made a couple other familiar works for Doom, Doom 2 and Heretic. Such as 007: License to Spell Doom (a ZDoom episode for Ultimate Doom, replacing the fourth episode), Super Sonic Doom (a ZDoom Sonic-inspired megawad for Doom 2) and Shadowcaster (a vanilla/ZDoom episode for Heretic SOTSR, replacing the fifth episode). Fragport was initially released in 2001 and updated a couple times over the years, with last update released in 2011 and it is mostly recommended to be played in ZDoom (the main batch file starts ZDoom up). It contains 32 new maps and there are even a couple new resources included, such as a new Green Key replacing the Yellow Key (a pretty cool and interesting change, it's even got the correct pick up message and the message when trying to open a green door, additionally the green doors are marked on the automap properly with a green line, at least in ZDoom) and a bunch of new sounds, such as door opening sounds borrowed from Strife and HeXeN II if I'm not mistaken. Oh and there are a couple new sounds for weapons like the SSG firing sound, which I recognize from other wads, such as DOOM Barracks Zone (a wad I've been playing a lot back in the Skulltag days, in 2009). Funnily enough, DBZone even has 6 differently colored keys (including a green key), so I wonder if it's a coincidence or not? Oh yeah and there is even a cool new status bar that I unfortunately didn't get to see when playing in ZDoom, since I have the Alternative HUD enabled. I got to see it in the videos posted in the topic and when loaded the wad separately in PrBoom+. Disappointingly, there is no new music, you just get the plain DOOM 2 soundtrack but there apparently is a Fragport MIDI Pack that was unofficially released a few years ago. I chose to not use it, to get the intended experience but if Fragport were to get another re-release (wish it got re-released in 2021), I hope the MIDI pack gets included. Oh and there are no new demos recorded, so loading the wad in a vanilla port (such as PrBoom+), the player bumps into walls and shoots at random (he also gets killed in MAP05 by the pinkies). But at least you get a sneak peek at the maps 11, 05 and 26. There is a new interesting story included in the text file, which is nice to have, adds a bit more personality to Fragport. In this case, Jody Russell is the protagonist of the mod. The story is worth reading at least once. The earlier maps (mostly the ones taking place inside caves) may not give a strong impression other than being "okay" but the quality picks up at around the fifth map, which was the first map I really liked. The sixth map was also great. And so on. I also noticed each map gives you the chainsaw at start, most likely meant for pistol starters. On top of that, maps seem pretty generous on resources, I notice there's many health/armor/ammo pickups, as in many medkits, many green armors and ammo boxes, so you should always be well stocked on everything. Traps usually aren't too bad to deal with. They are also predictable for the most part. There is a strong continuity between each level, somewhat inspired by Duke Nukem 3D. This is a nice thing to have, as I always enjoy when there is a continuity between each level. Reverie (a full vanilla megawad for Doom 2) also did this, which came in late 2011. It's only fitting that I can compare Fragport to Reverie, seeing as the updated version of Fragport also came in 2011. I won't spoil more than that, so I will start the proper reviewing. Spoiler MAP01: Desert Prison As expected from the map title, you start in a prison. Evade the cell by shooting at the red button with your pistol. Do the same for the remaining cells to kill a few monsters (including a revenant!) and grab a couple goodies, such as chainsaw, backpack and green armor! Kill the chaingunners waiting for you and grab the ammo packs before opening the door. There will be plenty of monsters waiting for you outside, so you may want to pick your targets carefully or even retreat to the starting room and wait for the cacodemons to arrive in front of the door and pick them off with your shotgun. After you kill the monsters on the ledges and take out the Hell Knight, grab the RED KEY. Enter the EXECUTIONS room, kill a few more monsters, activate the switch that crushes some monsters in cages and collect the GREEN KEY! Kill the spawned Arachnotron in the central area and enter the BARRACKS. Kill the imps and revenants and grab the BLUE KEY. Enter the STORAGE room and be careful with the various monsters hidden behind crates, including an ARCHVILE! I happened to stumble upon it before I got the SSG, so I had to kill it with the single shotgun but things worked fine in the end, I just had to kill a few resurrected monsters again. Press the switch and go outside the building. You will notice many mid tier monsters have spawned (the usual DOOM 2 roster). Just run in circles and make them infight, then finish off the winners. After that, climb those newly created stairs, kill the two surprise BARONS that will pop up, one on each side (I must say this scared me a bit but thankfully backed in time). Find the switch to open the main gate and reach the exit. Interestingly, by reading a couple comments and by watching Roofi's video, many monsters seem to be asleep and not attack you on sight. It's weird as in ZDoom, the monsters woke up immediately when they saw me. ZDoomism maybe? Overall, pretty good starting map. MAP02: Labour Mines A map taking place inside the mines. The mines are cramped, dark and filled with many monsters that will easily ruin your day if you aren't careful. Thankfully, I was always paying attention to the surroundings, so there wasn't anything that caught me by surprise. The early HK trap would have easily caught me if I didn't happen to back in that time. Some rooms I can also imagine being really annoying when playing in vanilla, especially when dealing with monsters while riding the elevators (possibly even getting infinitely tall'd in process) but since I played in ZDoom, I didn't have to deal with any of that. Probably for the better. I won't go into details but I will say I liked how you "swim" into the water and enter those small holes. If this was made with ZDoom in mind, you would have simply crouched into the holes but Stephen made sure to go around the vanilla Doom limitations and make it seem like you are swimming into water (something I've seen in some older wads released from mid 90s), though as a side effect, I noticed some HOMs. The last ambush at the Blue Key was interesting but due to using ZDoom and happened to find the invisibility secret just shortly before, once I picked up the key, only half of the monsters noticed me. I still ran into the safe spot in previous cave area but I feel like ZDoom's invisibility behavior (inspired by Heretic/Hexen) kinda ruined that trap because I didn't make as many monsters to infight as I wanted, so I had to pick off the remaining monsters myself. For those who don't know, Doom's invisibility sphere only makes monsters fire randomly at you, while Heretic's invisibility artifact (and the Hexen's invisibility effect when using the invincibility artifact as Cleric) cause monsters to sometimes also ignore you, which is what ZDoom has as the default behavior and has been a subject to debate for a while (I think newer GZDoom versions revert the behavior to Doom behavior) but this isn't the topic to discuss, so I will stop here. Anyway, back to the actual map, after taking out those monsters, go to the blue door, kill the baron, activate the bridge and that's pretty much it. Backtracked to collect ammo boxes and find the Megasphere secret. Overall, it's an okay map. MAP03: Durncrag Mines Another mine themed level, this one seems more fun and much easier than the previous one. Most of the enemies are easily dispatched, the traps aren't difficult to deal with (the RK trap is nearly identical to the BK trap in the previous level) and there is a cool flooding sequence whenever you are pressing switches and approaching certain parts. Getting Duke3D vibes here. However, I must mention that after you're flooding the mines, there is NO WAY BACK! So be sure to grab the secrets in those caves before you are flooding the mines, as then you won't be able to "fit" in those places anymore and they will slowly become inaccessible later on, every time the water rises. I realized this in a later part in the level (after I killed the archvile) and couldn't go back to collect the missed secrets, so I loaded an earlier save game before the flooding and then moved on. Thanks Doomwiki.org for the secrets guide! Although the level does have a few challenging moments (especially some ambushes later on, though the archies can be easily dispatched), the only thing that hurt me in the map was a mancubus fireball (that even rolled max 64 dmg) in those railways rooms but I'm okay with that, as I finished the level with 168 hp/armor. I suppose using ZDoom makes the maps a lot easier, as I notice either the monsters fire a lot less, their attacks are easier to dodge or the RNG is more favorable. Maybe the modernized controls also help a lot. If this was a map created specifically for ZDoom, I can imagine you could swim into the water and it would make the things more interesting. Seriously, I wish Clark would have made a fully fixed vanilla version of Fragport and a remake of Fragport, the latter taking advantage of the ZDoom's additional features. Overall, the map was fine, better than the second one, that's for sure. Not sure if better than first but I still enjoyed my time with this one. MAP04: Mining Colony The last of the mine themed maps, this one is a lot more open ended. It is rather short and besides your typical DOOM 2 monsters, you get to fight the SPIDER MASTERMIND! She can be kept busy with the Arachnotrons and that gives you an advantage to sneak up on her and kill her or at least hurt her enough before the arachnotrons are finished. Most of the traps aren't even threatening. You get to fight a group of HKs and Mancubi and all you have to do is fire rockets at them while you are dodging their projectiles. There is an Archie (alongside a Pain Elemental) popping up that may or may not surprise you. Then there's two revenants (one on each side) that will appear when you are climbing up those stairs and opening up the gate leading to the exit. Overall, while a short map, I find it interesting and a nice break from the cramped MAP02 & MAP03 (especially MAP02). MAP05: Durncrag Town Probably the first highlight of the wad. As you can tell from the title, this takes place in a nice town and I often get reminded of the similar themed town levels in HeXeN: Serpent Resurrection (made by same author, obviously). In fact, I would love to see an open-world DOOM 2 megawad made for GZDoom, inspired by Strife. Back to the actual map, it is quite nice and was fun exploring, taking down the monsters that populate the buildings. It provides a good challenge as well, with some ambushes later on (like the pinky demon horde) that you may or may not expect. There's also THREE ArchViles to be found in this map, one is inside the building containing the BK, one shows up after grabbing the BK and one is located on the exit boat. Overall, this was a nice map and definitely one of the highlights of the wad so far! MAP06: Ironclad Another highlight, this one takes place on a ship and as TJG1289 said, it indeed reminded me a bit of the Derelict map from Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition! Ironclad may not be as detailed as Derelict but it is still pretty good fun! I don't think it's fair to compare Ironclad to the maps from Overboard because the latter didn't exist when Fragport was released, even if there is similarity between them. ;) As for the map, you clear the monsters that are on top of the ship and then eventually proceed inside the ship. The only problem is that many fights feel cramped at times but this isn't much of a problem as there is a room that is packed with zombies and it was satisfying to clear them out with your Chaingun. The reactor room is the trickiest but it also rewards you with a Blue Armor and Soulsphere, which means continuous players want to save them for the end. The map ends with a Cacodemon ambush that isn't difficult at all, in fact it is a bit awkward to do in ZDoom because a few cacos will get pushed far away (compared to vanilla, flying monsters tend to act differently) and you must wait for them to come closer or if you don't mind, use your chaingun and snipe them from miles away, which ZDoom easily allows if you are using mouselook. It may be cheating but honestly, I did that as an exception. Oh and there was a cacodemon that got "stuck" (as in stuck at the bottom of the sea) on the other side and I had to JUMP to get to the starting boat and kill him from there. Then at the end, after getting everything, destroy the hidden Romero Head to blow up the boat and finish the level. Another highlight of Fragport! Let's hope the wad's quality is consistent from now on. MAP07: Remote Island An interesting open-ended map taking place on an island. Your first objective is getting the red key while fighting all those monsters on land, mostly imps on those ledges and occasional pinkies and whatnot. Afterwards, when you get the red key, you need to find the tunnel blocked by the red bar, so you drop into the maze. I didn't dislike the maze but I think it's certainly the weakest part of the level. The vines are blocking the view and remind me a lot of certain maps from Wolfenstein 3D (or was it Spear of Destiny?). Though you don't have to worry, as you should be able to see through them and most enemies in that maze are imps and you may catch a projectile or two but you should be well stocked on supplies. In fact, I did find it funny when I took two revenant fireballs in the face and they did lowest possible damage, yet I took one or two imp fireballs/scratches that did more damage. RNG at its finest! Speaking of which, there are some tricky ambushes you have to deal with. Such as the Green Key ambush. You might want to retreat in the previous room, as there will be cacos/knights/revs that get unleashed. Later on, you mostly fight a single rev/archie in a cramped corridor, so you shouldn't worry too much. There is the Blue Key ambush with the Mancubi that you can retreat and pick them off carefully or fight them with your RL and try dodging all those projectiles fired at you. I chose to do the easier way as I wasn't sure if I would be able to dodge all that crap at me. Afterwards, in the next corridor, you take on a Baron and you see a MEGASPHERE! Normally, you are forced to grab it but since I used ZDoom, I managed to jump over it and save it for later. Because there is a CACODEMON ambush awaiting you, just like the one from the previous map! Though I don't recall losing any health/armor when dealing with them, so jumping may have been excessive and not-needed, even though I still had like 140 hp/armor remaining and didn't feel like grabbing the Megasphere at that time. I generally try to save it for the end of the level, so I start the next level with full everything. At the end, the Archie on the boat from MAP05 returns and that's it. You kill him and the level is complete. Overall, I think the level was still nice. Even if the underground sections weren't anything special, the outdoor sections looked great and looking forward to the next map! MAP08: Barren Shores After the boat gets broken (again), you end up on a shore. The map is pretty straightforward. You need to collect the three keys to unlock the exit. Each key is well guarded and unleashes an ambush. I would suggest to be careful, as there's those monster pop-ups and may give you a sudden scare. Luckily, I always retreat when I end up with a sudden pop-up, so I don't get surprised by the monsters' attacks. In fact, I think I managed to beat this map without even getting hit. I stumbled upon the Soulsphere secret and saved it for the end but I ended up with 200/200 intact that it didn't matter if I grabbed it earlier or not. Funny, I think something weird is going on with ZDoom RNG if I happen to get so lucky. Though I think doing the careful approach in most Doom wads has saved my ass a lot of times. Oh yeah and at the end, every time you activate one of the key switches, an ArchVile will get revealed, so you know what to do. I recommend taking down one at a time. I don't know if anyone tried to activate all three switches at same time to fight all three archies at once. Would be an interesting challenge. Not much else to say about the map. It was fine, though somewhat bland and not as good as the previous highlights from Fragport. MAP09: Volcano Valley When I saw the map title, I got reminded of a particular level from Sonic 3D, possibly the same level that I got stuck back in 2008 or so when I played the Windows version of Sonic 3D (I also remember playing the classic Sonic games on an emulator at that time). My other experience was playing the Jumpmaze wad on Skulltag servers back in 2009 or so and then reaching MAP29 (which was probably also titled Volcano Valley and even used the song from Sonic 3D), I got reminded of that game and was happy to see there are Sonic inspired levels, at least using music/references from the Sonic games. I always thought it's quite neat to see Sonic-themed wads for Doom and maybe I should go and check out Super Sonic Doom and even replay DOOM Barracks Zone (another nostalgic wad from back in the Skulltag days) in the following days. :P It seems people have already got the Sonic 3D reference but I had to point it out anyway, seeing as I ended up getting ahead of the schedule in that week (e.g. I had reached MAP09 while fellow people were posting about MAP07 in that day). Anyway, this is a map that I can easily see myself hating it if played in vanilla but since I played in ZDoom, I abused mouselook and jumping a lot that the map didn't feel that difficult. Because at first, I wasn't sure where to go until I noticed those platforms are lifting you when standing on them. Not to mention navigation was a bit strange at times and even gives you the impression you can't backtrack but thankfully, it seems you can backtrack at the end, if you don't mind taking a bit of the lava damage (20 dmg lava if I'm not mistaken). There is indeed a point that's blocked off by an invisible wall and the secrets are a bit awkward to get to. I can confirm the softlock thing if you happen to not lower those tiny platforms to get to the teleporter but since I used ZDoom, this didn't impact my enjoyment for this map, as I could just jump to escape. I almost feel like this map was made for ZDoom's controls and physics. It really doesn't feel too much of a vanilla map. I also found annoying when I took the lift and ended up getting shot in the face by a Mancubus, though thankfully damage wasn't fatal. There is also the FIRST CYBERDEMON you encounter at the end of the level (alongside an archvile inside the exit corridor, who isn't that much of a threat) but thankfully, he isn't difficult in taking down. The goodies in the room containing the Cyber should be saved for the end if you want to finish with 200 health and armor. In fact, the level is fairly generous with radsuits and health/armor/ammo supplies. I notice there's a lot of health bonuses around, so I appreciate the author's gesture of giving you extra health, to compensate for attacks you can't avoid or running through lava. It is probably better for pistol starters, as otherwise you often end up grabbing health bonuses when at 200 hp, so it was difficult to avoid/minimize collecting them. As I said, if I had played this map in vanilla, I would have probably hated it. But in ZDoom, it was tolerable and ended up finding it interesting at least. I would still prefer more traditional DOOM type maps, so maybe the next level will do it? MAP10: Military Base Before I talk about the map, I want to say that I had already started playing Fragport in ZDoom BEFORE I saw the posts claiming that MAP10 is broken in vanilla ports. Until I read the post, I kept asking myself whether I did a good thing in choosing ZDoom or should I have used something like PrBoom+ to play the wad? After reading the post, I felt relived I did a good choice I won't have to worry about maps being broken and I can confirm that every map so far (including MAP10) works perfectly fine in ZDoom 2.8.1 (at least when played on Default compatibility level) and can be 100% completed without cheating (if you don't mind me using mouselook/jumping/crouching at times). About the map, it is very DOOM 1 inspired (more specifically, Knee Deep in the Dead inspired) with DOOM 2 monsters and SSG contained in it. It even shares the same name with the DOOM E1 secret level! Maybe this map should have been the secret level in the original DOOM instead of the E1M9 we ended up with? (obviously without D2 resources included) ;) Due to the inclusion of DOOM 2 monsters, it can be a bit challenging at times and the lack of blue armor/soulsphere/megasphere means that continuous players have to be careful to conserve their precious extra health/armor from previous level, while pistol starters have to do the map the hard way. It is not very difficult but I advice you to be extremely careful at certain points. Like the part with the THREE Arch-Viles guarding the GK, I sincerely recommend you to fire rockets after you open the door and taking them out quickly. Because the next part seems to lock you in a sort of maze, I suppose Stephen wanted the player to be forced to fight them in a maze like the infamous PLUTONIA MAP11 but thankfully, you don't have to follow the mapper's rules. You can make your life easier and then just navigate the maze to collect the key and move on. The other highlight is navigating the acid to eventually get the red key (and later the blue key on the pillar that may or may not be broken, depending on your port chosen), while fighting imps/demons and even revenants that get unleashed later on. Due to having limited radiation suits, the player is encouraged to be fast and aggressive, as you don't want to be caught without the radsuit when navigating the acid. Thankfully, it's only 5 dmg acid, so it's not that bad either way. I recommend equipping the Plasma when dealing with the monsters in the acid, if you want to clear them quickly and save a lot of time and health. There are a few other ambushes later on that are interesting, such as the usual groups of monsters in closets or an occasional ArchVile thrown in that is usually easy to take to out. The one at the end of level posed a bit of a challenge, so you should take extra care. Military Base is definitely a fun time and the DOOM 2 monsters spice things up, although it feels a bit unusual to play a DOOM 1 type map inside DOOM 2. I think there was even a secret level in one of the Memento Mori wads that emulated a DOOM 1 type map (according to a decade old memories) but once again, it was entertaining and I am not criticizing this aspect, as I find this style underutilized, there should be more Doom 2 wads that contain Doom 1 style maps in them. Great map and a nice break from the typical maps seen in Fragport. Screenshots: Spoiler Deaths so far: 0 I'm currently on MAP19 and will post about maps 11-19 (including secret levels, possibly 20-21 as well) next week. The wad so far left a very good impression, containing plenty of nice maps with engaging combat, all while being greatly balanced. And then unfortunately seeing the GAME BREAKING BUG IN MAP10 that happens in vanilla ports (though thankfully it worked fine in ZDoom at the Default compatibility settings), dragged the wad's score slightly and I think using ZDoom here is justified. I admit I used mouselook, jumping and crouching at certain parts but that's because I prefer playing ZDoom that way, even though I'm a purist in general. I don't like playing ZDoom with vanilla controls, so it's only fair I took advantage of the source port's features. ZDoom feels a lot more like Hexen/Quake than Doom. You get my point and not trying to start an argument here but despite generally preferring to play Doom wads in a more "vanilla" way, I kinda like using ZDoom's enhancements once in a while. After all I was waiting for a ZDoom megawad to be selected at the DW Megawad Club. Had Fragport been a FULLY vanilla wad and without game-breaking bugs, I would have used a more vanilla port. I intend to do PrBoom+ pistol starts at some point in the future but my time is somewhat limited nowadays (especially when you take into account having to write a post like that, because playing a megawad in a month isn't too bad but having to read every new post and write a few hours for a post can make a difference) that I would rather spend the extra time playing something else than playing through Fragport twice. BTW Ralgor, just curious, you mentioned you downloaded Fragport last year and ended up with an older version. From where you downloaded Fragport? I got it from IdGames (gamers.org mirror) and it's the latest 2011 release. I tried looking up for older versions and came across the old version at Doom Wad Station, which you also linked, though I haven't used that one, as I preferred using the latest version from Idgames to get the "intended" experience. I hope one day Stephen comes back and makes an anniversary update for Fragport, fixing the bugs and either making a proper vanilla version or making it for ZDoom only with additional features. Have a nice weekend everyone! Edited March 17, 2023 by FistMarine 7 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted March 17, 2023 Map 17 "Laser Quest" The outdoors of this map are so comically bare and desolate than the last thing you expect to visit is a laser quest game with its arcade & game room. Indeed, contrary to the previous map, 99% of the action takes place indoors and the main gimmick consists to explore a dark maze full of ennemies which don't shoot fake lasers but real bullets instead. This map is particularly atrocious if you decide to really play the game because all enemies can spot you in the darkness, which give a major and unfair disavantage to you. However, if you're a bit curious, you'll find the switch which will turn up the lights of the maze. I have mixed feelings about this : sure, searching the three keys with lights on kinda ruin the concept but I think the map remains quite challenging because monsters can come from all sides and some viles may attack you by surprise. I think The Ultimate Doomer could have toned down the concept by giving access to the switch button if you get one of the three keys for example, so as to force the player to fight in the dark a bit without making the gameplay insufferable. At the end , I really like Laser Quest for its unusual theme and memorable concept but I think its execution leaves a bit to be desired. Grade : B+ Still no video uploaded, I still have a slowed down connection. 5 Share this post Link to post
Celestin Posted March 17, 2023 MAP17: Laser Quest Yet another tan city streets with a blocky building labelled "Laser Quest". What's inside? An arcade with a pool table, bar and a laser tag arena. There is something with this place that really vibes with me, I'm not sure what it is. Laser Quest is full of trash monsters, so it's one huge shooting gallery, helped by industrial soundtrack. Fragport tends to rely on mid-tier demons (which can be a chore to get rid of, especially later on, when there's less rockets and cells), so I appreciate a fights with monsters that take less time to kill. The task is seemingly simple: player has to find a set of keys to unlock the exit. Some of them are really tough to spot, so you pretty much have to comb every corner of the arena (this one thing really inflated the runtime in my case). With all 3 keys, you have to unlock 3 switches to open 3 monster closets - a classic Stephen Clark trope. Despite the obvious flaws (eveything besides the arcade looking bland and the latter half of the map being rather weak), I really like Laser Quest. 6 Share this post Link to post
Ralgor Posted March 17, 2023 4 hours ago, FistMarine said: BTW Ralgor, just curious, you mentioned you downloaded Fragport last year and ended up with an older version. From where you downloaded Fragport? I got it from IdGames (gamers.org mirror) and it's the latest 2011 release. I tried looking up for older versions and came across the old version at Doom Wad Station, which you also linked, though I haven't used that one, as I preferred using the latest version from Idgames to get the "intended" experience. So, since my last post I've looked into it a bit more. I still haven't figured out where and when I downloaded it, but I don't think I'll never know. The creation time of the file on this machine is from Jan 30, 2022. I figured that must have been when I downloaded it, since I have a bunch of files with different times in that directory. But then I realized I have a bunch on that same date, and that's the oldest date in the folder. So apparently that's the day I copied over my wad collection from another machine. Probably due to reading the 2021 cacowards. So what I'm saying is I downloaded it some time before that, but I don't know when. It was likely before 2011, which is surprising since I didn't have much of a wad collection at the time. This wasn't a cacoward winner which was usually why I downloaded them. I honestly don't remember ever even hearing about fragport before it was nominated last month. I am glad I'm playing the older version though, since it seems to lack the zdoom-isms that crept into the more recent version. MAP10 works perfectly on dsda-doom, and it even includes some enhanced levels which are lacking from the more recent version. At this point I'd recommend avoiding the 2011 version if you're not using zdoom. I have a file server where the wad collection really lives (as opposed to my local mirror on this machine for convenience), and I'll have to check it later when I have time to dig into it more. I doubt it has any more information since it's only a few years old. Also, the new zip includes a Fp-play.bat which runs the original (well, modified by dehacked) doom2 exe. Just for fun, here's the changelog from each version's txt file: From the 2002 zip: This is an updated version. (I've fixed a couple of bugs in response to feedback, tweaked one or two other things, and updated the game text setup) From the 2004 zip: Updated March 2004 with: an extra patch, which adds weapons/ammo to the start of maps 29 and 30 for the purposes of demo recording. One or two other tweaks for demo friendliness too. From the 2011 zip: Updated April 2011 with co-op fixes, alignments and some minor improvements. 4 Share this post Link to post
Ralgor Posted March 17, 2023 MAP17 - “Laser Quest”dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl2, UV, Pistol start, blind run, single segment w/ demo 100% kills and secrets Using the 2003/2004 version of Fragport Well this map is interesting. I've never been to a laser tag establishment before. In this one you use your normal weapons to kill the zombiefied players stuck inside the laser tag arena. This map is filled almost entirely with hitscanners, which when combined with the layout makes this map fairly easy compared to the previous several maps. This map has a maze that I actually kind of like. Carefully walking through the maze and shooting anything that I come across was actually pretty fun. It shows that mazes don't have to be boring or annoying. Trying to fight revenants in the tight quarters was definitely anxiety inducing. The keys are mostly somewhat hidden around. I had a hard time finding the red key, but even the other keys weren't out in the open or anything. Once you collect them all inside the arena, you just head outside toward the exit and open the doors. Each door opens up a closet full of monsters. I feel like these fights should have happened inside the laser tag arena, and not out here in the street. This map doesn't have a lot to talk about. The interior is very repetitive, and the exterior is very brown and lacking detail. I had fun playing it, and the setting was pretty neat, but it's not very exciting. Grade: C MAP17 - 19:21.71 (19:21) K: 131/131 I: 20/20 S: 3/3 ralgor_fragport17.zip 7 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 17, 2023 Map 17: Laser Quest "More Human Than Human" is probably my favorite thing by far Rob Zombie has done, with early White Zombie being the laziest imitation of noise ever with his solo career and his solo stuff essentially being almost entirely passable. Seriously, Bob Seger has probably written more essential songs than Rob Zombie has since the end of White Zombie and I think Bob Seger is about as big a waste of time as it's possible to be for "that old tiiime rocknroll!" Anyways, the squealy industrial guitar and Zombie's vocals go quite well with the futuristic theme of the map in question, which is actually a laser tag shindig or whatever it's called. The only thing like that we had where I grew up was paintballing, so you know....Once again, the detailing shines. And the indoor aesthetic is that skyscraper thing from Downtown, but that's actually quite appropriate here. Throw in a sort of lobby with pool tables, little ATM type machines, a bar and an office with a Baron in the back, along with the play arena and a meeting room with drinks and you're in business. Well, kind of. You see, health is concentrated in a few rooms like the weapons (definitely has the feel of RL if not quite the reality) and hitscanners are lurking around practically every corner and unfortunately can also partially surround as likely as not. Throw in a few nasty surprises involving close-quarters Revenants and even an Arch-vile, and things get quite close to untenable at times. Actually, a Revenant close to the green key killed me in rewinded footage but I wasn't going to start again at that point, and thankfully, they seem to have gone another way. More key-hunting nonsense, an Arch-vile you can see from a mile off in one case, then we can go outside and open the doors to a shed with a nearby Arachnotron and push some switches where the map immediately takes a dump and clumsily tosses hordes in a rather clumsy manner that'll probably end with shotgunning probably around half a dozen Barons. A sour end to what was almost in the top 3 of maps so far! PS: That Megaarmor secret is basically invisible unless the map's found. lmd_fragport17.zip 9 Share this post Link to post
DFF Posted March 17, 2023 (edited) Map16: City Center - UV, FDWL, Continuous K: 100 | I: 72 | S: 100 Of all of Fragport's map this is the one i remember the best from over a decade ago (aside from the later to come spaceport), possibly due to just how charming i found the centerpiece: the "Darth Mall". Either way this is actually a rather interesting map from a gameplay perspective since i think how easy or hard it can be is entirely up to your order of events. This is still generally a negative in terms of map design but did cause the map to be a lot more hectic and action filled. The mall is both well stocked in baddies and goodies, but the exterior streets are rather barren of supplies aside from the Fragport train platform. This map is also truly non-linear, with each key also controlling monster closets to open. If you do what I did and haphazardly collect one of the keys before clearing out and looting the mall, the map becomes a war of attrition as the demon closets are absolutely stuffed with monsters who naturally will shift into and clog the mall's hallways. This meant that in order to resupply either health or ammo, i often had to whittle down enemies while strafing around the few mall entrances, sometimes darting inside to steal some goods and run before taking too much damage. The stores themselves are also slightly chokepointed meaning hanging out for too long means a suffocated death. The battle for the mall was bloody and difficult, but eventually conquered, meaning majority of the map had been taken care of with the red and green key. The train platform holds the blue key and nothing monumental occurs here, but the texture chosen to adorn the rail station works surprisingly well, creating a color design that i have seen rarely often. As we will soon see in later levels, this texture alone comes to mind when i think of Fragport, but that just may be a funny little worm in my brain that only I comprehend. The two switch secrets can easily be missed depending on order of operations here aswell, I wish these secrets were a bit better connected. Overall a wonderfully fun map with a nice nostalgic and old set piece, and was a fun combat experience albeit caused by questionably amateurish monster closet design and resource layouts. Map17: Laser Quest - UV, FDWL, Continuous K: 101 | I: 100 | S: 100 Laser Quest so far takes the Fragport award for "most doomcute", being a lasertag arena adorned with party halls, arcade machines, cool tables, semi-believable bathrooms and other realistic amenities. This map feels very unique and an interesting concept: taking out demons that have repopulated an arcade shooting arena. However the execution shows this was better on paper than in practice. I think having the arena mostly populated by hitscanners is in-of-itself slight genius for the laser tag setting, but the layout of the arena has some issues. For one, the cramped maze section screams "i ran out of ideas", and a lot of the doorways have weird blocky edges to them that really like to snag on the player. Additionally i felt having more light sources and strobe light effects would have made the arena come more alive in that retro-futuristic sort of vibe. There also seems to be two switches behind the lobby counter that either turn the arena on full brightness (making it much easier and gaudier to look at), or pitch black for a supposed harder challenge (i would not recommend, you can see absolutely nothing and becomes a real nightmare to navigate with those snaggy doorways). The map ends on an expectedly lame note with 3 key doors that open monogamous monster closets which only bloat the killcount and playtime. Its something we've seen from other non-linear maps in the set and seems to be a recurring fallacy from Stephen Clark in this set. Overall, fun concept with some good detail work, but the main attraction felt uneven in its effectiveness. Rankings: Spoiler Map16 Map13 Map15 Map11 Map01 Map17 Map06 Map05 Map03 Map08 Map10 Map09 Map12 Map02 Map07 Map14 Map04 9 Share this post Link to post
TJG1289 Posted March 17, 2023 GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves Map 16: City Centre Kills and secrets: 100% Time: 16:25 I think this is my favorite level in the WAD. And it's 100% because of the Doomcute. The sheer amount of it in the Darth Mall has always been my favorite part of this map. Coming to this WAD after playing Super Sonic Doom, this had always reminded me of that WAD's Ocean City Zone, as it had several buildings that held shops whose interiors are very similar to the stores in this mall. The Darth Mall is just a very charming location, and it's also cute to see the Fragport City Hall just outside, along with a hotel and a train station. All good in the environmental aspects of the map. Combat though is ridiculous. Surrounding the mall is a bunch of monster closets that open up when stuff happens. Usually when grabbing keys, but sometimes when entering certain rooms. The first 2 closets open when entering the mall, so that one is obvious. The others, not as much. The monsters will mosey on into the mall, usually getting caught in stores, making staying inside a complicated option. Taking the fight to them isn't much better, as each closet as a good amount of baddies, and the ammo situation isn't the greatest. Yeah, one store has a ton of it, but that initial manc and caco ambush is rough if you don't head to the store, avoiding the low tiers on the way. The most annoying ambush is the pinky / pain elemental one. I think that one happens when grabbing the green key? Speaking of that, at least the archie that appears in the store when that key is grabbed just usually stays in the bookstore and doesn't wander off to revive others elsewhere. All 3 archies in this map are placed in relatively friendly spots in that way. After getting all 3 keys, you can head to the hotel and hit all 5 switches in the rooms, while taking out a surprise rev in each. Oddly enough, access to all 3 secrets is in here, and 2 of them have no way of really telegraphing themselves. I had an idea, since the standard GZDoom lighting settings had the glow of the mega armor go through the wall back by the green key, but I keep forgetting 2 of the switches that open that and the soul sphere are in the hotel. Very obtuse. Overall though, I think this is one of the stronger maps in the WAD. Super cute details are the best parts, though while the combat doesn't really have any tact to it, it's still pretty fun, and is actually kinda challenging. Map 17: Laser Quest Kills and secrets: 100% Time: 11:01 This was another one of my favs, mostly cause of the Doomcute. But this time, it's a very different type of Doomcute. We have a map that takes place (mostly) entirely in a Laser Quest! We used to have a bunch of Laser Quests around where I live, and now there's none. Laser tag was always super fun, so seeing these places close down or turn into escape rooms is kinda sad. A friend of mine is doing hardcore laser tag now, similar to paintball, so that sounds interesting. ANYWAY, I've always enjoyed how this map is a laser tag arena. It's layout evokes those type of arenas so well, it's just like playing laser tag! Only everyone here has real guns instead of lasers (almost like the music video for the Black Keys' "Strange Times"). Though last time I played this, I accidentally turned off the lights and didn't realize that was my fault, so I thought this map was a lot darker than I remembered. Pro tip: don't turn off the lights. This map is nigh on impossible to navigate with the lights off, and since this map is 90% filled with hitscanners, you will die quickly. I didn't turn off the lights this time, and was able to make it though with no issues. A few revs and archies are hidden in there too. Super fun arena you can just chaingun through. The only typical Fragport feature needing all 3 keys to open the exit, with each key switch opening a monster closet nearby. This time though, the closets open when you open the key door, not when hitting the switch behind it. Only meh aspect to this pretty fun time! 8 Share this post Link to post
Veeda Vidlak Posted March 18, 2023 Map31 “Void” And now for something completely different. Void is nothing like the rest of the set, taking place in a surreal environment suspended in total blackness. The essentially invisible walls can be disorienting and the red and blue floors pop against the black medium, giving us memorable visuals if not memorable gameplay. Our start has three doors, all of which have equipment we want but only one of which lets us continue without a key. It takes us to a maze stuffed with superfluous lost souls, which cannot attack you and are thus a waste of time (they do fit the atmosphere though). The red key is here, which opens the door on the other side of the hub (after you backtrack through the maze). This room has more lost souls and a curious, disorienting staircase that I think is an attempt at making Penrose steps, which is pretty cool. Stay away from the 20% floor and grab the green key, dealing with a cacodemon ambush and then some barons back in the hub. Now we’re in the “danger zone”, the final part of the map (it’s a short one). We’re on floating red walkways and have to contend with immobile revenants (and a vile) hovering around the place. I like how disconcerting the ambiance is, but the blue key is pointless, the route is essentially linear. Eventually we come upon a spider mastermind, some revs, and mancubi that serve as the penultimate fight. You’re locked in with them but you have cover, making the encounter more grindy than difficult. Open the blue door and have a head-scratching finale against 8 archviles that can’t leave the room, rendering them helpless. Choose to ignore the super secret level warning or flee to the safety of the city to finish. A quintessential example of a secret map, Void is abstract, distinctive, and gimmicky. While the visuals are noteworthy, the combat is lacking, resulting in a mixed bag. Overall, given this is a map31, I'd say Void is a modest success. The first secret slot is where to put something like this, and the short runtime keeps it on my good side. Fast Monsters: The encounter in front of the blue door is total malarkey. Apparently the cluster of enemies around the spider mastermind has visual when you’re behind walls, because it’s a neverending stream of missiles. An awful experience, would not recommend. Map32 “The Crystal Maze” Unlike the majority of the club, I have never played Fragport. I had never played this level, I had never heard of the old British game show, and I had no idea what was in store. I can’t comment on how this outing compares to said show but make no mistake, this is an extraordinary puzzle map. Its devilish challenges are not for the faint of heart and taking the time period into consideration, this behemoth actually kind of backs up its “hardest level” boasting. To start, this level is divided into four sections, each one based off a theme in the game show. Within each section are key switches, three doors with weapons/items, and three doors with 2, 2.5, or 3 above them that represent the map’s challenges. The numbers represent how many minutes you have to do the challenge, after which you get softlocked if you’re still inside. While not my favorite gameplaywise, this feature fits so well into the game show motif that I laud its inclusion. There is some leniency, if you bail early you can “retry” a challenge by hitting a labeled reset button, unbarring the task. Challenges are divided into “physical, mental, and skill” categories, one of each per area. The physical games (combat) aren’t especially hard but ammo is surprisingly tight, so watch that and the time limits. The mental games aren’t too bad either, some of them like the hidden lava passage effortlessly passable using brute force. The skill games, however, are murderous. The library balancing act caused the majority of my deaths (more than every other area combined) and the crushers, which caused the second most, seem to be the bane of most of the club. The lava catwalks aren’t as hard, but slipping is instant death (and it includes thin ledges below your eye level). Even the simpler games can deliver an L if your focus falters, such as taking too long to clear a combat section. Beating this level saveless is a frightening task, offering tons of opportunities to choke or instalose from a normally minor slipup. After you’ve completed all 12 challenges, grab the three keys, hit the switches in each area, and enter the now accessible crystal dome. Waste the overmatched cyberdemon with your boatload of resources and win the grand prize (getting out of here). The Crystal Maze is… not for everyone. Stephen wasn’t exaggerating when he claimed this map would test all of your doom skills, the platforming, timing, and resource balancing in this map are no joke. That said, for a puzzle level this map is… fair. Outside of the crusher section (which strikes me as more cruel than unfair), I never felt like I was being bullshitted. Platforming below eye level can be dealt with via automap and the time limits were all pretty reasonable. It's an acquired taste but I consider this map brilliant, and the crown jewel of The Ultimate Doomer's puzzle mapping prowess. Fast monsters: I refused to allow this map to end my use of the fast parameter, which really doesn't change much here. My time isn't great but some of that is spending several minutes trying to figure out why the red key hadn't opened up (accidently linedef skipping the helmet trigger in the combat castle game). fragport31_fast.zip fragport32_fast.zip 6 Share this post Link to post
Celestin Posted March 18, 2023 MAP18: Northgate MAP18 is like MAP16 but worse. The doomcute mall is replaced by a series of indescript buildings, which forces the player to visit them in a linear order, while monsters gets released on the central square as you gather the keys. There is less opportunity for infighting than in City Centre, so have fun dispatching clumps of revenants or barons in an open field. The only things of note are a huge hole in the plaza and zombies at the train station (also recycled from MAP18). Northgate is an uninspired filler which greatly contributes to a city fatigue I'm starting to experience. 5 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted March 18, 2023 (edited) Map 18 : Northgate Another journey in the drought and completly brown city. I'm lying a bit, there is actually a small river crossing the district. Thank you, I began to be thirsty after a breakless session of Laser Quest ! Northgate follows the same pattern than map 14 : you have to find 3 differents keys dispersed among the buildings and each obtained key release a small horde of ennemies. However, the space to move around is much more extensive and the monsters locked in cages, specifically the revenants and chaingunners have a significant potential to cause harm. I think it's one of the least memorable maps in this megawad without being one of the worst. The lack of real concept, the low amount of doomcute and the more than utilitarian aesthetics don't give me the same enthusiasm as most of the Fragport levels. I don't consider Northgate as a poor level, but I think I start to get tired of the city and I want to leave it. Grade : C+ Still no video, because my internet still sucks. Quote Northgate is an uninspired filler which greatly contributes to a city fatigue I'm starting to experience. Haha , it's funny we submitted our review at the same time to more or less say the same thing ! 5 Share this post Link to post
Book Lord Posted March 18, 2023 MAP 18 – Northgate DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves Northgate indirectly confirmed how difficult it is for one man to create a 32-map megaWAD. The next district of Fragport was just another sandbox, carrying the legacy of Downtown and complementing it with a few Doomcute details for the sake of variation. The standard 3 key linear progression was carried out by the book, and there were no standout moments or locations, just square buildings to explore one after the other, closets releasing creatures in the streets, Arachnotrons in dead alleys, and the occasional Arch-Vile that cannot be called “surprise” anymore. I struggled to find something memorable or remarkable in this map. Spoiler The start followed a familiar pattern: explore the streets to collect weapons and resources, get rid of the annoying snipers shooting from cages (above all, Chaingunners), then enter the structures, starting with the ones with the yellow or orange marked doors. The switch in the roof garden lowered the RK pillar, then picking up the key released a small horde in the main square. Threat for Jody Russell was minimal, the biggest danger coming from the barely visible pit. I fell in it like a stone while circling around the enemies, learning at my expense that the bottom contained 20% damage lava, instead of fresh water as the waterfall might suggest. Spoiler The GK was inside a warehouse with schematic monster placement, and after some more Arch-Vile & closet shenanigans I came to the L-shaped building, a nicely decorated library with a large burning fireplace. The BK pickup was saluted by a Cacoswarm on the main square, but this time I stayed away from the pit. The last building presented some strictly frontal opposition, easily dispatched from the door, and the switch that removed the barriers from the western alleys. By the way, the same switch also made the secret BFG available for pickup. The small train stop at Northgate shared the COMPOHSO colour theme seen in MAP16, but the mob of Troopers populating it was underwhelming. The whole level gave me the same vibes, just as Stephen Clark was giving me the runaround; he seemed to offer either trite or mediocre stuff to keep me busy, before showing off his best work. I hope it does not take long for Fragport to change the course and delve into more compelling stuff than standard Doom urban sandboxes. 8 Share this post Link to post
DFF Posted March 18, 2023 Map18: Northgate - UV, FDWL, Continuous K: 101 | I: 100 | S: 100 Northgate seems to be a bit more downtown than the rest of the city maps, what we get is a rather sleepy feeling suburb with a few nondescript buildings and a linear key hunt. Combat is mainly window snipers and building fodder. The only realistic designs here is a small mansion and maybe some nice balcony gardens. This map feels like the less offensive side of filler maps. Nothing is terribly memorable and combat is about as flavorful as fine oatmeal. There are some slightly mean setups but nothing to write home about. 3 of the 4 secrets feel like they occurred naturally and i was left wanting a bit more. I suppose the building interiors were a bit interesting. Not bad, not really good but not bad. Rankings: Spoiler Map16 Map13 Map15 Map11 Map01 Map17 Map06 Map05 Map03 Map18 Map08 Map10 Map09 Map12 Map02 Map07 Map14 Map04 7 Share this post Link to post
Helm Posted March 18, 2023 Map18 - Northgate Yeah this is more of the same feel: get the keys in buildings in a Downtown sprawl, trigger monster closets. The start is spicy because no guns and a lot of turreted chain and rev. I shouldn't have killed any of the groups of closet demons until all the closets were open so they can take care of each other but even with low ammo and having to saw a vile here and there is map isn't hard or anything particularly memorable... it is part of this larger corpus and as such it is elevated by the broader continuous conceit, but I am also getting a bit of city map fatigue and would like to see any setup that doesn't involve grabbing a key and opening up a HR closet on high street filled with barons, another with mancs, a third with cacos. The footage is not boring because this map is within my skill enough so as not die too much (I think 2 deaths?) but not hard enough to need to make me play safe, so there's a lot of spicy things that happen to me but it's just because Doom II is a good game not because this map incentivized them, as much. Ammo woes can push a player to be more creative but also you could just open up all the closets and let the monsters sort themselves out and then there will be no ammo troubles or indeed anything else that could be seen as trouble at all by a modern player. footage 8 Share this post Link to post
Ralgor Posted March 18, 2023 MAP18 - “Northgate”dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl2, UV, Pistol start, blind run w/ saves, then single segment w/ demo 100% kills and secrets Using the 2003 version of Fragport This level seems to be some sort of abstract representation of a town. Unlike many previous maps, this one doesn't try too hard to represent a real place, and that's fine. The level is fairly linear, since more than half of the buildings are keyed. The level does put up some resistance, especially when using a pistol-start. It took me a few tries to get past the initial two rooms of the level, but once I finally got to the SSG I didn't have a problem. You get plenty of shotgun ammo, so the rest of the map is mostly just grinding down the hellspawn. Why is there a hole in the middle of the plaza? Why is it filled with damaging lava? This is probably the most confounding element of the whole map. I can only assume it was just thrown in at random. This level just isn't very interesting. It's not actually bad, but this is the kind of map that I wouldn't remember if I replayed it a year from now. Grade: C MAP18 - 22:37.57 (22:37) K: 138/138 I: 1/1 S: 4/4 ralgor_fragport18.zip P.S. I always write my thoughts up on a level before reading anyone else's. I do find it interesting how the opinions of this particular map so far seem to be universal among club members. 6 Share this post Link to post
Veeda Vidlak Posted March 18, 2023 Map16 “City Centre” City Centre plays like a much better version of Urban Wasteland. It has the same sandbox style of progression but everything from the charm to the layout to the gameplay has been substantially improved. Right at the start we come upon a massive shopping center named “Darth Mall” (boo this man!). Fragport’s marquee hotspot and the surrounding road serves as the bulk of the map, with the remainder consisting of a railway station to the west. While much of the palette is our standard brown, the mall’s interior is delightful, containing a fair number of cute little shops, as well as a parking garage. Hi Tech, Bookstore, General, Health, Lighting, and Plants (yes, just plants, and judging by their condition, Fragport’s botanists are as lousy as Durncrag’s). Each shop has a weapon and both the general and health stores are loaded with ammo and health respectively. To leave we need to find our usual keys, one in the station, one to the east, and one up the stairs in the bookstore. Moving around the map releases various monster closets, giving the player the ability to choose their battles. The one that stands our most to me is the wave of pinkies and pain elementals released by entering the bookstore (I think the trigger is right as you enter the place). The PE closet is to the left of the start and you can defang this group by heading straight there and unloading a couple BFG shots. Otherwise, I’d recommend getting your guns ASAP and going from there. It’s hard to reach them later when there’s a lot of traffic going through. After getting the red and green keys around the mall, head to the rail station, which looks quite good with its pleasing blue color scheme. Hitscanners guard the terminal, and don’t get blindsided by the barons released behind you while fighting them. Once we have the last key, head over to the station hotel and head upstairs to hit the switches in the key rooms. Deal with the last monster ambush (if you didn’t come here already to open the map’s secrets) and head back east to leave. This is a good one, if a bit vexing on pistol start. There are a lot of strengths, the abundance of heavy artillery, the chaotic combat, the nonlinearity, the quality doomcute of the shops… There are definitely issues, the possibility of a rude first impression, it not always being clear what to do, and apparently a softlock for hitting the hotel switches out of order. Nevertheless, City Centre was an enjoyable playthrough for me and has solid replay value to boot. It also sits at an enviable position in the map order, most levels will feel like a reprieve following The Crystal Maze. Fast Monsters: Lmao, have fun fragport16_fast.zip 6 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted March 19, 2023 Map 18: Northgate I think this is like an upscale neighborhood, but it's striking resemblance to the last 4 maps is noted and definitely not appreciated. I didn't think the UK or Canada or wherever we're at now is made up entirely of tan brick last time I checked, but we'd never know it from teh utilitarian and monolithic architecture. Doomcute isn't nonexistent of course, there's the train station at the end of course, not to mention the interior decorations in a couple of buildings and an actual fireplace in one! The problem is that while it might be better than Urban Wasteland, the combat is even lazier if anything. While pistol-start may be provided for, it's obviously not considered at all and while it could be said Stephen was taking some influence from Hell Revealed, it's far more likely that this inevitably resulted from one person attempting to design 32 maps and finding they just did not have the design chops to make consistently unique designs, no matter how creative they might be in some other ways. Not to say pistol start was exactly given much shrift in the other maps, but at this point, the feeling of 'gotta have one more city map' is far too evident here. Low rocket ammo and even less cell ammo just ram this reality home. Combat grows ever more predictable, other than the rooftop area near the last key where we are faced down by five Mancubi hanging out from across the way and we run out of cells and rockets and also fail to pick up the 'secret' BFG. The mess at the end is the final insult. Continously, it would just be fairly forgettable, but pistol-starting, it's nothing more than the mapping equivalent of unsalted jerkey. No thanks. lmd_fragport18.zip 5 Share this post Link to post
TJG1289 Posted March 19, 2023 GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves Map 18: Northgate Kills and secrets: 100% Time: 16:52 It's like Downtown, but more brown! And the progression doesn't need a giant arrow on the ground! When I last played through this WAD last year with Corruption Cards, this was the map I stopped at. Not because it was bad; I didn't even attempt it. I had just went on to something that was a new release. So with that, the rest of the maps in this WAD aren't going to be at the forefront of my mind like the rest were. Though I do remember this map, it just took me a second. Like everyone else in the club has said, this one isn't really memorable. It's a bigger Urban Wasteland. Thankfully, this map doesn't have anything like that map's blue key building. This one is more direct, just having you explore buildings, get keys, defeat ambushes, and end. Nothing offensive design-wise, but it's become old hat at this point. Looking forward to the E3 switch-up more than ever now. 4 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted March 19, 2023 GZDoom, Doom compat, hardware, HNTR, blind, continuous with saves. MAP18 - “Northgate” A neighbourhood with multiple buildings to explore during a linear key hunt. The realism is less pronounced than in some of the other maps but there are still some neat touches like the rooftop garden terrace or the mansion-like home (complete with fireplace and cozy library). Getting each key triggers a teleport ambush in the main square, none were very difficult but they were fun. The final part of the map goes through what looks more like a tram stop than a train station, going beyond it takes us to the next map. I have a feeling parts of the map, at least this station, is based on a real place, but there are three Northgates in England (and many more in the US, but TUD is English) and I'm not sure if it's one of them. It's not my favourite but I didn't mind playing through it. MAP19 - “Dockside” Another map with a strong sense of realism. I'm suddenly struck with how many maps have a boat or ship theme going, maybe TUD had an appreciation for things nautical. The outdoor dock itself looks pretty cool but my favourite part was the indoor dry dock, especially with the switches to control the main doors and the water level. There are other cute touches, like the R that has fallen to the ground on the sign to the toxin storage. Combat is pretty easy for the most part, until the big fight with the Spider, Cyberdemon and everyone else. As often happens to me I completely failed to notice not one but both invulnerability spheres and so had to do this the hard way, pitting the 2 bosses against each other and trying to get as many things as possible to fight the cyberdemon. I ate a rocket and a couple of minigun volleys, but managed to kill everything without dying, which made for a very satisfying fight. There were 2 annoyances with the map, one being an inordinately large number of impassable lines, the other that blue door building, where I got stuck for a while because the switch changes something so minor I didn't notice it for a while. Those quibbles aside this was another enjoyable map. 5 Share this post Link to post
Celestin Posted March 19, 2023 MAP19: Dockside Fragport's harbour is an another urban map, but there are things here that stand out. For once, it expands the colour pallette, adding blue sea and gray ships to standard browns. There are some nice places to explore, like the dry dock or a docked ship with lower deck (it's like 3 rooms but I still appreciate the effort). The latter contains the blue key, which triggers the most memorable fight in the map: cyberdemon, mastermind and some other enemies. It isn't hard and I can't deny, infighting in wide open arenas are overused in this wad, but at least it's not barons+revenants+cacodemons. The ending is yet another train station, this time with a train and archvile driver. Dockside is an improvement over MAP18, but I can't say I'd be excited to play it again. 4 Share this post Link to post
Book Lord Posted March 19, 2023 MAP 19 – Dockside DSDA-Doom v0.24.3, UV, Continuous, blind run w/saves The next stage of Jody Russell’s sightseeing tour of Fragport was the seaport, which featured a naval yard along with warehouses and a chemical plant, conveniently placed there to discharge huge quantities of pollutants into the sea. The soulless boxy buildings of Northgate were replaced by dignified structures with clear purposes and representation, and their exploration was undoubtedly more exciting. I could not take for granted that also combat would become compelling, but it was exactly what happened at the Dockside. Spoiler Lots of former humans watched the streets from the windows, so a pistol starter must be quick to collect the weapons in sight. The building near the rocket launcher contained a mandatory switch that lowered the GK in the locked ‘F_agport Toxins’ facility, but it was possible to press it right away, before venturing in the docks. The opposition in the area was mild, allowing to admire the lighthouse, the moored ship, the crane, the ‘Workshop Office’ that should be visited for the SSG, the ‘Storage’ that contained a progression switch, and the ‘Dry Dock’, a cute shipyard where our hero had the privilege to launch a new ship, messing about with switches in the control room. Spoiler Flooding the area around the vessel allowed to get on board, something that would have been trivial if The Ultimate Doomer had not placed so many blocking lines to prevent straightforward jumps. This is the only complaint I have about Dockside, since it broke the realism by making the docked ship outside inaccessible unless you press a nondescript button, and it even caused me to get soft locked on the Megasphere boat. You can strafe jump to it, but you cannot get out if you do not press the switch first. I also failed to trigger the ambush when collecting the RK, unleashing it inadvertently when I came back to score the secret. Spoiler The GK was obtained with a quick visit to the chemical plant, full of Arachnotrons and monsters lurking behind props. I returned on board of the moored ship to enter the locked door in its hold. Picking up the BK released a large mob of hellspawn in various points of the level, including a Cyberdemon and a Spiderdemon that eventually engaged in a duel. The Spider won this time, against a weakened Cyber that helped me a lot against his supposed allies. I had a fully loaded BFG to cover all eventualities. The final area was less remarkable, even baffling at times, especially that labyrinth of screens that appeared on a platform where I had already killed the Arch-Vile. Reaching the train station was a formality, but I liked the idea that every district had its stop like a real city. Dockside was a distinguished map in the urban episode of Fragport. 7 Share this post Link to post
Roofi Posted March 19, 2023 (edited) Map 19 "Dockside" If you love boats, you'll be happy to know that that one contains several of them. For my part, I want to mention all the available ammo and health in this map and the fact you can find all weapons outside the secrets, even the BFG. I had a bit the impression that Dockside was designed as a deathmatch map. For instacne, you can choose to take large staircases or a lift near the cyberdemon's closet. The lift didn't serve during my UV playthrough but I suppose it could be helpful to build specific strategies in order to mislead your opponent. So, as other participants said, we go back to realism after a small serie of bland cityscapes. Despite not being as imposing as Ironclad from map 06, penetrating the ships give the experience of accomplishing a sabotage mission. Sometimes playing Fragport feels a bit like playing Goldeneye 64 or Perfect Dark. I love the lighthouse located far away you can reach via a teleporter and damn I can't imagine how many details TUD had to sacrify in order to respect the vanilla limits. TUD understood that oversized areas can be an opportunity to become a battlezone but I'm a bit disappointed on this point. I would have appreciated to fight more enemies considering I was way more equipped than some other maps. Maybe more midtiers or some arch-viles in order to spice up the combats would have not too much. Grade : A- Also, check the videos of map 16,17,18 : Spoiler Edited March 19, 2023 by Roofi 6 Share this post Link to post
Helm Posted March 19, 2023 Map19 Dockside The scenic adventure continues. I think the mapper liked this layout a bit more than a couple back because this one feels a bit more worked and considered, but the set all flows together. We are quite blessed to be towards the latter part where mapper deems it worth to give good guns to the pistol starteρ, though I did have to detour for that SSG this time. We get a series of keys that take us down the belly of another boat for some quick sabotage, and we get the same trope whereupon every time you pick up a key you get reinforcements in the centre sprawl. There isn't really that much that can be said about variations of the same map with different dressing besides talking about the enemy composition and how the map happened to play out in comparison to its similars. I didn't die even though there was a cyberdemon, a mastermind (guess what these two did) and 3-4 viles in the whole thing. The map I would classify, then as easy from a modern perspective but dense enough and with enough resources for things to go south before they go north. A short note, there is a joke where the letter R has fallen off of the word Fragport of one of those signs the mapper likes to put on his doomcute boxes. Homophobia for laughs is really disappointing now and it was disappointing then. I know this wad is old but since we're playing it today it's worth pointing out that stuff like this leaves a bad taste even many yrs down the line. footage 5 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted March 19, 2023 8 hours ago, Book Lord said: Reaching the train station was a formality, but I liked the idea that every district had its stop like a real city. Dockside was a distinguished map in the urban episode of Fragport. I really like how you pass through the district's station in MAP18, then at the beginning of MAP19 you're crossing the tracks to go through the docks, and then when you end up in the train station here you can see that the tracks are an extension of the ones you saw at the beginning. There are lots of little touches like this in the wad that really make the city feel like a place. More a video game place than a real place, but still, it really helps compensate for the sometimes low detailing in the outdoor city parts. I think it's one of the most charming aspects of this wad. 5 Share this post Link to post
Book Lord Posted March 19, 2023 (edited) 51 minutes ago, brick said: I really like how you pass through the district's station in MAP18, then at the beginning of MAP19 you're crossing the tracks to go through the docks, and then when you end up in the train station here you can see that the tracks are an extension of the ones you saw at the beginning. There are lots of little touches like this in the wad that really make the city feel like a place. More a video game place than a real place, but still, it really helps compensate for the sometimes low detailing in the outdoor city parts. I think it's one of the most charming aspects of this wad. Indeed, the Dockside station is further from the seaport than the Northgate station, which does not make sense, but I admit that the consistent colour pattern of the stations, the connections between city levels, and the occasional glimpse on previous areas improve the realistic effect. You could copy-paste the levels 13-20 next to the each other and get a full map of Fragport. Has someone attempted such a seamless progression in more recent, limit-removing WADs? 4 Share this post Link to post
Ralgor Posted March 19, 2023 MAP19 - “Dockside”dsda-doom v0.25.6 cl2, UV, Pistol start, blind run w/ saves, then single segment w/ demo 100% kills and secrets Using the 2003 version of Fragport I guess it was inevitable that we would end up in the docks. We've already seen a number of ships and boats up to this point, and here are three more. Luckily the designs of two of them are different from what we've seen before. There's also a dry-dock with switches to pump water in an out, and to raise or lower the doors. I found this charming. The initial start is somewhat difficult, since you'll have to run around grabbing weapons and ammo while being shot at by a bunch of hitscanners. But it's not really that hard as long as you keep moving and find a semi-safe spot to kill everything from. There's more than enough health and ammo in this map, especially if you find the secrets, so a rough start shouldn't prevent you from finishing the map. There is a really fun fight once you grab the blue key. A cyberdemon, spider mastermind and an assortment of mid-tier demons warp in. It's amusing to make them all in-fight a bit, and then eliminate whoever is left with the BFG. At least being shot at with rockets make things more exciting. This map is certainly more memorable than the last one. The ships are well done, but some of the buildings are still pretty abstract. I'm still hoping for things to heat up a bit, since I still find even this map to be fairly easy. I managed to beat this one the first time blind without saves. I wasn't expecting to still be doing that this far into the wad. I should probably be careful what I wish for though... Grade: B MAP19 - 22:20.46 (22:20) K: 135/135 I: 18/18 S: 4/4 ralgor_fragport19.zip 6 Share this post Link to post
brick Posted March 19, 2023 (edited) 18 minutes ago, Book Lord said: Indeed, the Dockside station is further from the seaport than the Northgate station, which does not make sense Maybe they're modern docks and are outside the city proper, and therefore outside the old city gates? :P (I know, I'm grasping at straws) 18 minutes ago, Book Lord said: Has someone attempted such a seamless progression in more recent, limit-removing WADs? Funny you should mention this, just earlier this month I was playing URE2020 for ER/IWAD. It doesn't do it quite in this way at every level, but many are connected with the continuous-looking end-room-is-start-room trick, and in others it does something like early Fragport where you get on a boat at the end of the oil rig and end up on said boat having docked at an outpost at the start of the next map. But having multiple points of the one map be able to connect with other maps, rather than just the start-end? I can't thing of anything recent, and the most memorable one I know, other than Fragport now, is actually The Artifact from all the way back. I suspect that once limits were removed mappers might've opted to just make one huge map where everything is interconnected directly (think Jade Earth) instead of trying to string together multiple maps like this. I think at the time it was seen as a technical limitation that was overcome, but looking back now we see a certain charm in this kind of design (and as someone who on average prefers smaller maps it definitely appeals to me). 5 Share this post Link to post
TJG1289 Posted March 19, 2023 GZDoom/UV/Continuous/Saves Map 19: Dockside Kills and secrets: 100% Time: 17:03 We've once again hot the shores of the island, this time we're in the city's docks. We've got a few office and work building by the shore, with a few boats in the water and in the hangar. There's a good amount of height variation, with us needing to head down some stairs to get to the water level, and with the buildings down there being mluti-story. First order of business is hitting a bunch of switches in the various buildings. NGL, I don't know what they do. I'm assuming one opens up the boat outside, but idk the others. There's a few fights that can be a little tricky. Grabbing the red key off the boat in the hangar unleashes a mini caco cloud, plus an archie. Getting the blue key from inside the boat outside unleashes both a cyb and a spider mastermind, plus a bunch of mid-tiers. They're spread out all over the place, making it so there's no real safe space to run to. I just ran up to get the bosses to infight, then BFGd the winner. The one weird thing is the room behind the blue key door is an area I always think is in Urban Wasteland, and was wondering where it was when we played that map. I got ahead of myself. Overall, this is a pretty solid map. A little more interesting than the last map. 6 Share this post Link to post
